Hail and Damaging Winds in Massachusetts, August 10, 2001

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Massachusetts, August 10, 2001
Start: 2001-08-10T12:00
End: 2001-08-10T14:00
Location: Massachusetts

August 10, 2001 · NWS BOX · 11 events in 5 counties and zones

Severe thunderstorms brought damaging winds to much of eastern Massachusetts. In Middlesex County, large trees and wires were downed in Concord, Reading, and Hopkinton.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $20,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 11

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS BOX wrote it up.

Severe thunderstorms brought damaging winds to much of eastern Massachusetts. In Middlesex County, large trees and wires were downed in Concord, Reading, and Hopkinton. Essex County was especially hard hit, with many reports of downed trees and wires in Danvers, Beverly, and Wenham. In Lawrence, trees and large branches fell across both sides of Interstate 495 near Exit 46, causing a brief traffic tie-up. The storms also dropped quarter sized hail in Danvers and Peabody. In Norfolk County, large branches were downed by thunderstorm winds in Quincy and resulted in minor car damage. Large trees fell in Walpole, including one which damaged the roof of a house. In Plymouth County, large branches and wires were reported down in Hingham, Hanover, West Bridgewater, Brockton, and Whitman. About 40,000 customers were left without power in eastern Massachusetts. An isolated severe thunderstorm in Hampden County downed about six trees in Agawam.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Boston/Norton, MA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 10, 3:15 AM EST, 8 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 10, 3:15 AM EST, 8 hours 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...COR TO FIRST SENTENCE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
415 AM EDT FRI AUG 10 2001

SVRL 100+ DEG RDGS IN SRN NEW ENG YTDY INCLDG 101 HERE AT KBOX.
LKS LIKE A HOT ONE AGAIN TDY BUT NOT AS BAD AS YTDY AS WL LKLY
SEE MORE IN THE WAY OF CLDS THIS AM...THEN SHWRS AND STORMS MOVE IN
THIS AFTN.  WL HAVE TO WATCH FOR THE OUTSIDE CHC THAT CLUSTER OF
STORMS JUST W OF ELM-IPT HAS ENOUGH JUICE TO MAKE IT TO WRN PART OF
SRN NEW ENG THIS AM.  ALSO OF INTEREST IS THE 3000+J/KG BULLSEYS
OF CAPE OVR SE MA AT 12Z.  WL GO WITH MID-UPR 90S IN THE E WITH
HEAT INDICIES IN THE LWR 100S. WL GO ARND OR LWR 90S IN THE W.

MDLS SHW FRNT MVG THRU WRN NY AT 12Z WITH THE ETA INDICATING A
WEAK PRE FRNT TROF OVR CENTRL NEW ENG.  BY 18Z MDLS SHW FRNT...WIND
SHIFT...MVG INTO WRN NEW ENG WITH TEMP GRDNT LAGING BEHIND. TDY
DEFINATELY HAS THE POTNL TO BE A POTENT DAY FOR TSTMS WITH ALL THE
THERMAL/MOIST INGRDNTS LINED UP ACRS SRN NEW.  HOWEVER BEST UPR LVL
DYNAMICS STAY N OF OUR FCST AREA.  EVEN WITH THE JET MAX REMAINING
N OF THE BOARDER...WE STILL HAVE 40 TO 45 KTS OF WIND AT 20-25K FT
THIS AFTN AND EVE WITH 50+ KTS ABV 30K.  SPC HAS SNE IN SLGT RSK AND
WITH JUST A HOT JUCIEY ATMOS...WILL INCLUD ENHANCED WRDG IN THE
FCST FOR WIND AND HVY DOWNPOURS.  PW/S FCST AOA 2 IMCHES THIS AFTN.
WL ISSUE SOMETYPE OF SPS TO MENTION ONE MORE DAY OF HEAT PLUS CHC
SVR STORMS.

FRNT SLOWS DOWN AND EVNTLY STALL ALNG THE S COAST TNGT AND SAT. THE
BIG ? FOR THE WEEKEND IS HOW FAR S THE FRNT MAKES IT BFR IT STALLS.
ETA MVE THE FRNT TO JUST S OF KACK-LI BFR IT STALL WHILE AVN/NGM
STALLS IT RIGHT ALNG SNE COAST.  AVN/NGM WOULD MEAN PCPN FOR MUCH OF
SAT FOR S COAST AREAS WHILE ETA HOLD OFF PCPN TIL LATER IN THE DAY.
WL GO WITH MC AND CHC POPS FOR SAT FOR S COAST AREAS AND ELSEWHERE
SAT NGT AND SUN. MUCH COOLER TEMPS SAT AND SUN AS CLDS AND N-NE FLOW
TAKES OVR.

MARINE...SCA ALL WATERS TDY AS BUFKIT SHWS PTNL FOR 30KTS MXG DOWN
FRM ABV. WL ALSO MENTION GUSTS IN TSTMS LATE IN THE DAY.  WND
BEHIND THE FRNT DROP OFF BUT BECOME NE.

.BOX...SCA ALL WATERS FOR TDY.

NOTCHEY

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Middlesex

When: August 10, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Middlesex County, Concord
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 42.450, -71.350

Hail, Essex

When: August 10, 12:40 PM EST to 12:49 PM EST
Where: Essex County, Danvers
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.567, -70.917

Thunderstorm Wind, Middlesex

When: August 10, 12:46 PM EST
Where: Middlesex County, Reading
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 42.533, -71.100

Thunderstorm Wind, Essex

When: August 10, 12:50 PM EST to 1:07 PM EST
Where: Essex County, Danvers
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.567, -70.917

Thunderstorm Wind, Norfolk

When: August 10, 12:59 PM EST to 1:04 PM EST
Where: Norfolk County, Quincy
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 42.267, -71.033

Thunderstorm Wind, Essex

When: August 10, 1:05 PM EST
Where: Essex County, Lawrence
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 42.717, -71.150

Thunderstorm Wind, Norfolk

When: August 10, 1:05 PM EST
Where: Norfolk County, Walpole
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 42.133, -71.250

Thunderstorm Wind, Middlesex

When: August 10, 1:15 PM EST
Where: Middlesex County, Hopkinton
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 42.217, -71.517

Thunderstorm Wind, Plymouth

When: August 10, 1:19 PM EST
Where: Plymouth County, Hingham
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 42.233, -70.883

Thunderstorm Wind, Hampden

When: August 10, 1:32 PM EST
Where: Hampden County, Agawam
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 42.067, -72.617

Thunderstorm Wind, Plymouth

When: August 10, 1:41 PM EST to 2:00 PM EST
Where: Plymouth County, Hanover
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 42.117, -70.817

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Massachusetts in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Massachusetts, August 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5264670, 5264671, 5264672, 5264673, 5264674, 5264675, 5264676, 5264677, 5264678, 5264679, 5264680.